


When You Thought It Was Safe

by LaurenCrabtree



Category: Cthulhu Mythos - H. P. Lovecraft, Dream Cycle - H. P. Lovecraft
Genre: Bondage, Carter Only Dies in the Waking World, Collars, Darkfic, Enchanted Collars, Jaded Carter, Kidnapping, Knives, M/M, Mentions of Atlach-Nacha, throat slitting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-03
Updated: 2019-01-03
Packaged: 2019-10-03 18:08:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17288867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaurenCrabtree/pseuds/LaurenCrabtree
Summary: Decades after Carter left the Dreamlands for good, Nyarlathotep has caught up with him. Now, the Outer God prepares to kill Carter in the Waking World and trap him in the Dreamlands forever.





	When You Thought It Was Safe

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Bad Things Happen Bingo; an anon requested Rantep + Collared and Chained. If you want to request a fic or just chat, you can find me on Tumblr at @laurencrabtree.

Randolph Carter had thought his days of peril were behind him. He had thought he had left Nyarlathotep and Yog-Sothoth and all the other gods in the dust when he had retreated back to the Waking World. He had thought that leaving Arkham for New York was the perfect cover, that he would be hidden forever in the crowd. Now, as he regained consciousness and felt an all-too-familiar cold weight around his wrists, ankles, and neck, he knew he was dead wrong.

 

The room he was in was dark, and he probably wouldn’t have even woken up were it not for the sound of words spoken in a language he didn’t understand. It seemed familiar, some dialect from the Dreamlands that he had never gotten around to learning, but he couldn’t place exactly which one it was. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could make out two figures near the doorway. The first was a pale, shortish person that he didn’t recognize. The second, on the other hand, he did know, and the awful truth of who it was struck a fear in his heart that he hadn’t felt for decades.  _ Nyarlathotep. _

 

The Outer God quietly handed something to the other figure—Carter couldn’t quite make out what—and a few seconds later, the door opened and shut and Carter was left alone with his worst enemy.

 

“Lovely to see you again.” Carter nearly jumped in place when he heard the words so close to his ear; he still hadn’t gotten used to the Outer God’s habit of teleporting behind him in a split second.

 

“Stop that.” Carter was well past trying to get loose from his binds; he had been through this enough times to know that it wouldn’t work. He felt oddly bored by his current situation; he wanted Nyarlathotep to stop with all the intimidation bunk and get to a point where he could actually work out an escape plan.

 

“As long as it keeps startling you, I’ll keep doing it.” There wasn’t even a hint of playfulness in the Outer God’s voice, but Carter knew that he was hiding one hell of an ear-to-ear grin on the inside. “For now, though, I should probably inform you of just what’s around your neck.”

 

“Yeah, yeah; you’ve established what it’s for a thousand times. Ownership and all that crap.” Carter knew that speaking with such irreverence was a risk, but he did it anyway; hopefully if Nyarlathotep could see that he was bored, he would move on to some other poor sap that would get scared like he used to. It was a selfish thought, but Carter knew that self-preservation was the most important thing now.

 

“Not just that,” Nyarlathotep said, not moving an inch from behind the human. Carter shivered as he felt the Outer God’s breath against his neck. “This one was designed by a god by the name of Atlach-Nacha.”

 

Carter felt immense frustration at this statement. As if the damn key wasn’t enough, now he was getting tied up with another magical artifact, both literally and metaphorically.

 

“I’m sure you’re already familiar with what she does, spending as much time in the Dreamlands as you did. But you probably haven’t encountered this particular power of hers; you see, if she deems it necessary, she can prevent people from using their own powers of thought to warp the Dreamlands. Effectively, now that you have this on, you can’t change anything once you’re there.”

 

Carter began to speak up, to say that he could always come back to the Waking World, but the statement caught in his throat as Nyarlathotep’s plan dawned on him. He didn’t even need to feel the knife being raised to his throat to know that he wouldn’t be seeing Earth as he knew it ever again. And in that moment, as the cold metal slowly began to rest against his throat, he said his goodbyes.

 

He remembered Harley Warren, who had been loyal to him and took him under his wing—even though he was selfish as the day was long. He remembered his days at Miskatonic University and how much admiration he had for his professors and classmates. He remembered Walter Gilman and how devastating it had been to hear that he had suffered a similar fate to what he was about to go through. At the very least, Carter could still find him, wherever he might be. The only one he knew he could rely on for sure, though, was Pickman. 

 

And Pickman was indeed what he thought of as the knife slashed through his skin and his blood began to pour out. It may have been a small hope, but as long as someone was still looking out for him, it was not a nonexistent one. As Nyarlathotep began the incantation that would bring them to the Dreamlands, Carter felt like this perhaps wasn’t the worst situation he could be in after all.


End file.
